


Romance is Not Dead

by DinoDina



Category: Torchwood
Genre: F/M, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 21:59:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9461945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DinoDina/pseuds/DinoDina
Summary: Jack and Ianto celebrate Valentine's Day as Owen and Tosh get together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written/posted on ffn from 02-13-15 to 03-17-15.

Ianto leaned back in his sear, closing his eyes and letting the soft clicking of Tosh's fingers on hey keyboard lull him to sleep. The day had been long, the day even longer. Gwen had already been gone for quite a while, by now probably in bed with Rhys. Neither Tosh nor Owen had anywhere to go, him bored of Cardiff's nightclubs, her not interested in them. Jack was at the Hub as well, holed up in his office completing whatever task he had set out to do.

Just as the orange cat in Ianto's dream had gotten his small paws on strawberry cream, a hand clapped his shoulder, startling him awake with a short snort and yell of surprise.

"Welcome to the world of the living," Owen chuckled from behind him. "How was the cat nap?"

"What did I miss?" Ianto rubbed the last signs of sleep from his eyes, mentally laughing at the coincidence of his dream and Owen's word choice.

"Half an hour or so, at most," Tosh supplied.

"Why'd you wake me up, then?" Ianto grumbled.

"Our esteemed leader has oh-so-eloquently told us to bugger off and not be back 'till Monday," Owen pointed at Jack's office. "But he wants you."

"We'll wait for you here," Tosh smiled as Owen helped her into her jacket before putting on his.

"If Jack lets him go," Owen corrected with a dirty grin.

"Ha, ha," Ianto said sarcastically as he walked away.

When Ianto opened the door to Jack's office, Jack was behind his desk.

"You wanted to see me?" Ianto asked.

"Always," Jack smiled, getting up from his sear and stalking over to Ianto.

"Was there a reason?" Ianto smiled back.

"Of course there was," Jack interrupted himself to give Ianto a kiss. "Valentine's Day!"

"What about it?" Ianto wanted to know.

"It's tomorrow," Jack stated the obvious.

"And?" Ianto prompted with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you that stupid?" Jack asked, not unkindly.

"What do you mean?" Ianto grew puzzled.

"I'm asking you to spend Valentine's Day with me!" Jack cried.

"Tomorrow?" Ianto's eyes were wide with surprise, but bright with happiness.

"We can do it next year, too, if you want," Jack offered.

"I'd like that," Ianto said around a kiss.

"Perfect."

"Why did you tell me this here?" Ianto wondered.

"Because I wanted to do this right," Jack said sincerely.

"We slept together before we went on a date, Jack," Ianto chucked. "What does 'right' entail?"

"Let me pick you up?" Jack asked anyway.

"We live together," Ianto protested.

"It'll only be for one night," Jack replied.

"Fine," Ianto conceded. "Wine and dine me."

"And nobody said anything about being proper after dinner," Jack leered suddenly.

"It's all sex all the time with you, isn't it?" Ianto asked, used to his lover's antics.

"Not _all_ the time," Jack disagreed. "Sometimes I think about _you_."

"You really are a hopeless romantic," Ianto chuckled.

"Yes I am," Jack proved his words with a kiss. "And _you_ are going home."

"When are you picking me up?" Ianto asked as Jack held the door for him.

"Three o'clock tomorrow," Jack told him. "On the dot."

Jack's eyes eagerly followed Ianto to where Tosh and Owen were standing. He didn't hear the words they exchanged, but soon, the three, with a 'goodbye' and a wave, were behind the cog door.

Jack ran back into his office almost immediately. He picked up the stack of reports on his desk, put them aside and looked at the papers under them.

"Perfect," he grinned. "Ianto will love this."

* * *

"So what are you and Jack doing tomorrow?" Tosh asked Ianto as the door closed behind them.

"How do you know they're doing something?" Owen sighed.

"I don't know what we're doing," Ianto shrugged to Tosh's stifled squeal and Owen's surprised widened eyes. "But we're doing something."

"Really?" Tosh near-cooed.

"Really," Ianto grinned back as Owen rolled his eyes.

"Why isn't Jack here?" Owen asked.

"He wants to pick me up tomorrow," Ianto explained.

"Why?" Tosh wondered.

"He wants to do it right," Ianto said matter-of-factly. "And that apparently entails spending the night at the Hub and picking me up tomorrow."

"He's being romantic," Tosh and Owen chorused, excitedly and annoyed, respectively.

"I kind of like it," Ianto admitted sheepishly.

"Figures," Owen scoffed.

The three were now walking across the Plass, at the end of which Ianto would turn left and Tosh would go right with Owen. When they got there, Tosh gave Ianto a hug.

"Have fun," she wished him.

"Thanks," Ianto replied.

"Is this your first date with him?" Owen wondered.

"Kind of," Ianto nodded. "We've gone out before. . . you know, movie, pizza, my place. But nothing special."

"He better not screw this up," Owen gave Ianto a hug, to the other man's surprise.

"Thanks," Ianto told him, a bit puzzled but happy at the, in his opinion, unnecessary concern.

He turned the way home.

"Coming?" Owen asked Tosh, gallantly offering his elbow.

"Yeah," she took it and allowed Owen to lead her.

Tosh and Owen lived only three streets away from each other. They weren't as close to the Hub aas Ianto, but closer than Gwen.

Neither noticed, both caught up in their conversation, that they had passed Tosh's street until they stopped in front of Owen's building.

"Sorry, Tosh," Owen apologized. "I'll walk you back."

"Alright," Tosh nodded, and they started walking back.

"Where's your purse?" Owen asked.

Tosh looked down at her side, "I don't know."

"Did you leave it at the Hub?" Owen wondered.

"Maybe," Tosh groaned. "My keys were in it."

"Can you get home any other way?" Owen asked.

"I can pick the lock," Tosh nodded confidently.

It started drizzling lightly. They walked a few more steps before the drizzle intensified into a shower. Tosh involuntarily squealed as the cold water made contact with her head.

"Or do you just want to come back to mine?" Owen offered.

"Could I?" Tosh agreed with a smile, the downpour plastering her hair to her face.

"I just said so," Owen replied.

The pair joined hands and ran through the rain back to Owen's door, where he quickly unlocked it, and they took a warm elevator to his large flat. Owen put his drenched jacket and shoes by the door, motioning to Tosh to do the same, which she did. Then, he led the way to the bathroom, where he handed Tosh a towel.

"You can dry off in here," Owen stated the obvious, closing the door. "Throw your clothes in the hamper, I'll bring you a change."

Tosh puzzled over why Owen could have had her clothes, but did as she was told. She covered herself with the towel when Owen knocked on the door, and quietly accepted the yoga pants and T-shirt. When she came outside, Owen was waiting for her in the living room.

"My couch doesn't pull out," he said, pointing to the small two-seat with an annoyed frown. "i can take it."

"It's fine," Tosh shook her head. "I can take it."

"Or. . . if you don't mind," Owen offered, "We could share my bed."

With sleeping arrangements decided, Owen and Tosh went off to make dinner.

* * *

Ianto was caught in the rain just as he came up to his building. He didn't get the brunt of the harsh weather, but the doormat did, slipping out from under him when he stepped on it. Ianto's behind throbbed with a quickly darkening bruise. He bitterly rubbed at it as he went inside.

There, as he got to his own flat, Ianto had a lonely dinner of leftover pizza and James Bond before going to bed.

As Ianto drifted off, he thought, _I'll have to return Tosh's purse back to her on Monday_ , followed by _, I wonder what Jack's planning._

* * *

"Which side do you want?" Owen asked as he and Tosh stood in his bedroom, looking at the bed.

"What side do you normally sleep on?" she wondered.

"The right," he replied.

"Which right?" Tosh asked.

"The one that's on the right," Owen laughed at the question.

"The right from where we are?" Tosh elaborated. "Or the right when we'll be on the bed? Because they're different."

Owen thought for a moment before decisively saying, "On the bed."

They climbed in, making sure to stay on their respective sides of the covers. But by the time they were falling asleep, they were almost in each other's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

When Ianto woke up, he found it to be already nine o'clock. It was strange not to have an equally warm and comfortable Jack next to him, and Ianto didn't like it. Despite the romance—or, he supposed, the hope of romance—of it all, Ianto didn't want to repeat this separation.

After a quick shower, Ianto made himself a breakfast of coffee and waffles, using the waffle iron Gwen had given him. After that, he made himself comfortable on the sofa and proceeded to wait for three o'clock.

* * *

Owen and Tosh had slept in. When they woke up, the privacy they had promised each other they'd keep was not there. As they both opened their eyes at the same time, no one had to awkwardly scoot away without waking the other up.

"Sorry, Tosh," Owen said, a but groggily but not incoherently.

"It's fine," she yawned.

"Did I wake you up?" Owen wondered, suddenly worried.

"No," Tosh shook her head.

Tosh emerged from Owen's large bathroom wrapped in a purple towel.

"I was sure I left my clothes on your bed," she said to him with a puzzled look.

"I forgot about that," Owen replied with a grimace. "I was going to change and put my coffee down. . . and then it spilled. . . on your clothes."

"Oh," Tosh grew conscious of the fact that she was standing almost naked in front of Owen.

"I can give you a shirt and some running bottoms," Owen offered, saving Tosh from asking for more clothes.

"What about the things I was wearing yesterday?" Tosh wondered.

"I forgot to dry them," Owen explained.

"Alright," Tosh agreed.

Just then, the phone rang.

* * *

Ianto was just about to clean out his refrigerator when his phone rang, upon closer inspection turning out to be Jack.

"Hi, Jack," Ianto greeted, holding the phone in between his ear and shoulder as he put away the cleaning supplies. "Where's the problem?"

"There's no problem," Jack said, a bit too quickly. "At least not one that demands our immediate attention."

"Why'd you call, then?" Ianto challenged, now putting on his shoes and coat.

"Because there's a major Weevil sighting," Jack sighed, giving up the charade.

"How major?" Ianto asked suspiciously, now taking his stun gun, regular gun, and Weevil spray.

"Very," Jack sounded grim. "It's far."

"How far?" Ianto wondered. "When are you picking me up?"

"London," Jack sighed, and there was a knock on the door, so Ianto shut off his phone and opened it, to a grinning Jack," Now."

"Hi, Jack," Ianto said again as he was pulled into a kiss.

The SUV already held Owen and Tosh, together in the backseat, so Ianto sat up front next to Jack.

"Where's Gwen?" he asked the three.

"With Rhys, apparently," Owen said, shooting a mean look in Jack's direction.

"They flew out to Spain directly after she came home last night," Jack explained apologetically.

With Jack's driving, they made it to the Weevils in record time, at two o'clock. They were running around, in broad daylight, on the remains of the ill-fated Torchwood Tower. Jack felt Ianto blanch and freeze up next to him, and surreptitiously put a hand on his shoulder.

"How did they get here?" Owen gaped.

"The Rift extends here," Ianto explained darkly, regaining his composure. "It's why the Tower was so tall. To reach the one place in London that the Rift is active."

"I thought Weevils were native to Cardiff?" Tosh asked.

"But how did they get there?" Jack answered with a rhetorical question to back up Ianto, then asked him, "How active was it?"

"The. . . the Void Ship," Ianto swallowed and shook his head clean of the memories. "It's one of five recorded instances of activity."

"Why can't UNIT handle this?" Owen grumbled.

"Because they have the day off," Jack and answered, and recoiled from the glares Tosh and Owen, and maybe even Ianto, shot him.

"They're an international protection agency," Ianto scoffed. "They don't get days off."

"Let's stop complaining and get the job done," Jack said, taking control of his slightly distracted team.

Tosh and Owen nodded, then carefully moved closer to the throng of Weevils. Ianto moved to do the same, but Jack's hand, still on his shoulder, stopped him.

"Can you do this?" Jack whispered into Ianto's ear, pressing against him.

"Yeah," Ianto nodded and breathed deeply. "The memories are far from good, but if we don't do it, who will?"

"Let's go," Jack gave Ianto a light kiss on the forehead.

"Wait," it was Ianto who stopped Jack in his tracks, then furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "Are the Weevils having an orgy?"

Jack thought for an minute and observed them. The, he gave a definite nod, and decided, "Yes, I think they are."

"Just wondering," Ianto replied, and they joined Owen and Tosh.

Ianto had already dispensed of the crowd that had formed when the Weevil frivolities first started, but they needed to move the Weevils as well before it came back. There were about twenty Weevils in total, all in varying degrees of large and aggressive. _Very_ aggressive, it appeared, as when the team moved to attack them by surprise, then Weevils viciously retaliated.

In two—give or take—hours, most of the Weevils were sedated. Some had run into the London sewers to lick their wounds, but Jack was sure they'd come back to Cardiff, as they always did. The Weevils had given as good as they had gotten. Tosh, who, according to Owen, had a suspected mild concussion, was being helped to the SUV by Owen, whose free hand was covered in blood from where a Weevil had slashed him. Jack had died, but now, good as new, was helping Ianto limp to the car.

But the day was far from over. Retcon had to be administered, the battle—because it wasn't a tumble, was more than a simple hunt—site cleaned up. Both Ianto's job, the first part of which was already done. The second, after and angry and long call on the road to Cardiff (home), was placed into the hands of UNIT.

When Owen pulled into the Torchwood parking lot on the Plass, Tosh pointed at Jack and Ianto, asleep in the back. Owen smiled back at her and handed her his phone. She returned his smile with a sly, albeit fangirly, one of her own before taking a picture. She nodded at him, and he tapped Jack's shoulder. Jack jolted awake.

"Are we here?" he said, using the hand that wasn't around Ianto to rub sleep from his eyes.

"Obviously," Owen rolled his eyes. "Take Sleeping Beauty home and do something sweet."

"I never pegged you for a romantic," Jack replied, but nodded.

Owen and Tosh exited the SUV, and, since they had been picked up by Jack at Owen's door, walked back. Jack sighed quietly, thinking of the day. He had planned a romantic getaway for Ianto, but the plan seemed to be ruined.

"I never pegged you for a romantic, either," Tosh said as she and Owen were walking.

"And now you know something new about me," Owen smiled, then widened it and said, "You do have a suspected concussion, Tosh."

"Yes," she nodded. "And?"

"And you might need a doctor to look you over today," Owen suddenly quieted. "Unless you have plans."

"I don't," she replied. "But I think I do need looking over."

The walked the rest of the way to Owen's hand in hand.

* * *

"Who's that?" Ianto murmured, his eyes still closed, as Jack accidentally jostled him by moving into the front seat.

"Go back to sleep, Ianto," Jack replied. "We're almost home."

Ianto didn't. He tried to, for Jack, but he had already woken up. When, at last, Jack pulled up next to Ianto's front door, he gave up trying and let Jack help him inside.

Jack turned on the lights in Ianto's flat when they walked in. the sunset was visible from the windows, and the two men took a moment to admire it before Jack's stomach growled loudly, making Ianto laugh and Jack smile at him in return.

"Is there any food in here?" Jack asked, coming up to the refrigerator.

"I think so," Ianto shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Jack could tell he was disappointed about how the day went. Who wouldn't be? Not only did Ianto's day off get interrupted, but he didn't get to spend it with his lover being frivolous and celebrating their love. To add to that, he was covered in dust and Weevil sweat.

"I'm taking a shower," Ianto decided with a grimace.

"Want some company?" Jack offered, washing his hands in the kitchen sink.

"If you want to," Ianto replied.

"I do," Jack nodded. "I'll join you soon."

Once the dinner he was preparing for Ianto was set up, Jack stayed true to his word and went to join him. The shower, while making things a bit too close together for the two, was steamy and proved to lighten the mood, both because of the refreshing cleanliness it offered and because it allowed Jack and Ianto to spend more time than strictly necessary in it, using most of the time to explore each other.

They left the water on when they exited, for the steady noise and so the warmth of the room wouldn't disappear so soon. Jack dried them both off, doing a thorough job, before the two remembered that Ianto was injured. Jack rectified that and helped his lover up, grabbing an icepack for the knee that Ianto had twisted when they were in London.

"Where are we going?" Ianto wondered when Jack led him past his dining room. "Jack, what is this?'

"You'll see," Jack said, excitement creeping into his voice.

"There aren't that many place you can take me that require us to wear only our nightclothes," Ianto pointed out with a chuckle.

And, as Jack opened the door to the roof, an intimate—or completely open to the whole world, depending on your point of view—table for two came into view, Ianto gaped.

"When did you have time to set this up?" he asked, letting Jack hear the awe.

"Just now," Jack admitted, leading Ianto to the table and pushing out a chair before sitting in the other one himself.

"Now?" Ianto echoed. "That's a hell of a lot to do in an hour."

"It wasn't what I had in mind," Jack said, slightly apologetically, as the candles lit up around them. "Far from it."

"What did you have in mind?" Ianto wondered. "And why is it warm?"

"You're so Welsh," Jack chuckled. "I took a piece of tech from the Archives to keep the place warm."

"Thank you," Ianto smiled brightly.

"I wanted to take you to France," Jack explained. "Not somewhere big or crowded, just a small place, a village. I booked us a hotel room for a day. The plane left at 3:40 today. Torchwood got us past security. I wanted to give you something normal, so we were supposed to go on a regular plane. No refunds, either."

"It's fine," Ianto replied to the saddened tone in Jack's voice. "It's more than fine."

"Really?" Jack seemed unusually reserved, and, to tell the truth, it was understandable—after all, the job had just ruined something that could have been the most romantic getaway.

"Really," Ianto confirmed. "We can always rent another room. But this, here, now. . . it's a one-time thing. We're perfect, Jack."

And, as their lips met across the table, Jack knew that Ianto meant it. This was love. And nothing, not on Earth or any other planet, could stop it. Not even unusually randy Weevils two hours from where they were supposed to be.


End file.
